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Food, climate and man
Agriculture and Environment, 5 (1980) 267--274 ~. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
267
Book Reviews FOOD, CLIMATE AND MAN Food, Climate and Man. Margaret R. Biswas and Asit K. Biswas (Editors). John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, Chichester, Brisbane, Qld. and Toronto, Ont., 1979, i--285 pp., £16.75, ISBN 0471-03240-9.
This book is a compilation of chapters written by nine authors on problems dealing with food, climate and the environment. The concept of the book was inspired by the editors while attending the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome. The chapters are generally consistent with the title and with each other. However, the various chapters could have benefited from a bit more of integration by the several authors. The book has less of a consistent theme running through it than had it been written by a single author. However, the authors do focus their analyses to a fairly consistent problem set. F. Kenneth Hare poses in chapter 1 the question of whether the world's weather is really changing. He reviews conflicting views of whether weather in the 1970's represented a discrete change from the past or simply random fluctuations in an existing climate capable of generating great extremes. The answer is not provided in the chapter and the author suggests that projections by climatologists and economists should be brought closer together. He makes a plea of the need for more climatic forecasting and a greater use of climatic knowledge in decision making. David Norse discusses world food balances and the shifts in self-sufficiency among nations. He generally accepts the fact of large food capacity. He emphasizes that agricultural development must allow for a range of environmental, intrastructure and institutional factors not c o m m o n to all developing countries. He examines in some detail additional land and water available for use, multiple cropping and new technologies for crop production. He also discusses potentials in fish and livestock production. He concludes that food limitations are more institutional than physical. Gunnar Lindahl discusses water and food production. He expects that most of stable water r u n o f f available for food production will be used by around 2000. David Pimental reviews his earlier work on energy, relates future energy availability to population growth and reviews the potential crises to be faced in producing more food by alternative technologies for a larger world population. Also in relating energy and food production, Margaret Biswas discusses some alternative sources of energy in developing countries. She indicates methods by which developed countries can reduce energy consumption w i t h o u t reducing yields, and she also includes a chapter on the environment and food production. She indicates that any major policy to increase world-wide food production which does not consider environmental factors is doomed to failure. She discusses the role of pesticides, fertilizers and soil loss in this milieu. Victor A. Kooda reviews the potentials and needs
268 of soil reclamation and conservation in food production. The paper is somewhat more technical than others of the group. His main emphasis is on studies which still need to be made. Helmut E. Lansberg analyzes the effect of man's activities on climate. Considered especially are controlled alterations of the lower atmospheric layer, including: albedo effects, wind breaks, frost prevention and climate alteration. Also considered are incidental alterations such as man-made lakes, forest-field transformations, irrigation, grazing, and others. The various impacts of urbanization are considered also. There is no reasonable doubt that man's activities have led to climatic alterations. These effects may continue. Prospects of large-scale positive climate control are dim. Asit K. Biswas, in somewhat of a wrap-up chapter, interrelates climate, agriculture and economic development. He concludes that climate is an important parameter that should be considered in theories of economic development. This integration is especially important in the tropics where there are great variations in social, economic, cultural and institutional conditions. Also, strategies o f development should be compatible with the laws of nature. Too much research is on an ad hoc basis and should be reorganized on a comprehensive basis. Even then, knowledge exists which is not being adequately used. Aurelio Peccei discusses the future of man. He indicates a great remaining scope for improving h u m a n quality. As background he cites successes in improving athletes, cosmonauts, animals, plants, appliances and materials. The general man also could be brought to new heights if the need and m e t h o d becomes understood. He believes t h a t there is humanistic awakening for doing so. The resourcefulness and ingenuity of man should allow to do so. The topics covered in this book have generally been discussed in other papers, books and conferences since the world food crisis of the mid-1970's. However, the authors draw out some new dimensions of that complex represented by resources, food production, nutrition, population, energy and the environment. These are topics which need to be discussed by many people. The authors have supplied some new ideas for these topics. EARL O. HEADY (Ames, Iowa, U.S.A.) FOOD LOSSES AND PEST CONTROL World Food, Pest Losses and the Environment.. David Pimentel (Editor). AAAS Selected Symposium 13. Western Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1978, 206 pp. U.S.$16.50.
This is a rather mixed bag of papers, uneven in quality and very different in scope, some being very general and one or two highly specialised. The opening chapter by the Pimentels, "Dimensions of the World Food Problem and Losses to Pests", presents a pretty gloomy perspective. If the world population reached
267
Book Reviews FOOD, CLIMATE AND MAN Food, Climate and Man. Margaret R. Biswas and Asit K. Biswas (Editors). John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, Chichester, Brisbane, Qld. and Toronto, Ont., 1979, i--285 pp., £16.75, ISBN 0471-03240-9.
This book is a compilation of chapters written by nine authors on problems dealing with food, climate and the environment. The concept of the book was inspired by the editors while attending the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome. The chapters are generally consistent with the title and with each other. However, the various chapters could have benefited from a bit more of integration by the several authors. The book has less of a consistent theme running through it than had it been written by a single author. However, the authors do focus their analyses to a fairly consistent problem set. F. Kenneth Hare poses in chapter 1 the question of whether the world's weather is really changing. He reviews conflicting views of whether weather in the 1970's represented a discrete change from the past or simply random fluctuations in an existing climate capable of generating great extremes. The answer is not provided in the chapter and the author suggests that projections by climatologists and economists should be brought closer together. He makes a plea of the need for more climatic forecasting and a greater use of climatic knowledge in decision making. David Norse discusses world food balances and the shifts in self-sufficiency among nations. He generally accepts the fact of large food capacity. He emphasizes that agricultural development must allow for a range of environmental, intrastructure and institutional factors not c o m m o n to all developing countries. He examines in some detail additional land and water available for use, multiple cropping and new technologies for crop production. He also discusses potentials in fish and livestock production. He concludes that food limitations are more institutional than physical. Gunnar Lindahl discusses water and food production. He expects that most of stable water r u n o f f available for food production will be used by around 2000. David Pimental reviews his earlier work on energy, relates future energy availability to population growth and reviews the potential crises to be faced in producing more food by alternative technologies for a larger world population. Also in relating energy and food production, Margaret Biswas discusses some alternative sources of energy in developing countries. She indicates methods by which developed countries can reduce energy consumption w i t h o u t reducing yields, and she also includes a chapter on the environment and food production. She indicates that any major policy to increase world-wide food production which does not consider environmental factors is doomed to failure. She discusses the role of pesticides, fertilizers and soil loss in this milieu. Victor A. Kooda reviews the potentials and needs
268 of soil reclamation and conservation in food production. The paper is somewhat more technical than others of the group. His main emphasis is on studies which still need to be made. Helmut E. Lansberg analyzes the effect of man's activities on climate. Considered especially are controlled alterations of the lower atmospheric layer, including: albedo effects, wind breaks, frost prevention and climate alteration. Also considered are incidental alterations such as man-made lakes, forest-field transformations, irrigation, grazing, and others. The various impacts of urbanization are considered also. There is no reasonable doubt that man's activities have led to climatic alterations. These effects may continue. Prospects of large-scale positive climate control are dim. Asit K. Biswas, in somewhat of a wrap-up chapter, interrelates climate, agriculture and economic development. He concludes that climate is an important parameter that should be considered in theories of economic development. This integration is especially important in the tropics where there are great variations in social, economic, cultural and institutional conditions. Also, strategies o f development should be compatible with the laws of nature. Too much research is on an ad hoc basis and should be reorganized on a comprehensive basis. Even then, knowledge exists which is not being adequately used. Aurelio Peccei discusses the future of man. He indicates a great remaining scope for improving h u m a n quality. As background he cites successes in improving athletes, cosmonauts, animals, plants, appliances and materials. The general man also could be brought to new heights if the need and m e t h o d becomes understood. He believes t h a t there is humanistic awakening for doing so. The resourcefulness and ingenuity of man should allow to do so. The topics covered in this book have generally been discussed in other papers, books and conferences since the world food crisis of the mid-1970's. However, the authors draw out some new dimensions of that complex represented by resources, food production, nutrition, population, energy and the environment. These are topics which need to be discussed by many people. The authors have supplied some new ideas for these topics. EARL O. HEADY (Ames, Iowa, U.S.A.) FOOD LOSSES AND PEST CONTROL World Food, Pest Losses and the Environment.. David Pimentel (Editor). AAAS Selected Symposium 13. Western Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1978, 206 pp. U.S.$16.50.
This is a rather mixed bag of papers, uneven in quality and very different in scope, some being very general and one or two highly specialised. The opening chapter by the Pimentels, "Dimensions of the World Food Problem and Losses to Pests", presents a pretty gloomy perspective. If the world population reached